Danny Phantom: What She Wants
by Aaron12
Summary: Valentine's Day is descending upon Casper High...and so has Desiree. Danny and the others have defeated her before, but when Desiree accidentally grants a wish made by Sidney Poindexter and frees him from his spectral school prison, he offers to help free her of her weakness to wishes. However, Sidney's assistance may end up freeing Desiree in more ways than one.


Author's Note: Wow, a little late for a story based on Valentine's Day, huh? Still, I guess since this story will (hopefully) be read for years to come, I guess a couple of weeks isn't such a big deal. Anyway, this story comes to us, courtesy of an idea from one of my readers, Sallem Cortez 004. By and large, I'm quite pleased with the results, but I'll leave it up to you to tell me what you think.

For those of you, however, who are new to my Danny Phantom series and have absolutely no idea what the heck is going on, allow me to enlighten you. BElow is a list of all the stories I've written in this series so far, which I'm sure will answer most questions you have. The list is as follows...

"Facing the Future"  
"Strength in Numbers"  
"Bad Breakup"  
"Trial By Fire"  
"Hearts and Minds"  
"Pairing Off"  
"A Family Thing"  
"Stolen Years"  
"Laws of Attraction"  
"Royal Occupation"  
"Junior Hijinks"

Well, once again, my shameless plugging must come to an end. Enjoy the show, everyone.^_^

Danny Phantom: What She Wants

By Aaron

It was a typical morning in Amity Park, with several of its citizens milling about back and forth on their way to work. However, sometimes a typical morning can end up being rather inconvenient for some. Particularly in the case of one commuter who found himself marooned on the side of the road, car having stalled and stubbornly refusing to start.

"Look, I'll be there as soon as I can," he spoke through the headset on his cell phone as other vehicles rolled past. "I know it's an important presentation today. What do you expect me to do about it like this? Gah…! I just wish this blasted car would move!"

Just then, an ominous shadow happened to pass by at that exact moment. And a second later, plumes of green mist began to flow through the vehicle's air conditioning system, swirling around the chassis and causing the engine to surge to life, much to the driver's delight. However his joy was soon converted to apprehension as the engine suddenly took on a different feel, sounding almost like the roar of a bloodthirsty beast.

"Huh…? Huh…? What…?" the driver stuttered nervously as the car began to bend and shift, only to look out his window in terror as hard steel became replaced with muscle and animal hair. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

It was a typical morning in Casper High, with several of its students milling about back and forth on their way to classes. However, sometimes a typical morning can end up being rather inconvenient for some. Particularly in the case of one young pupil who found himself being dragged into the bathroom by Dash Baxter, who felt he needed to get some much-needed bullying done before his first class.

"Aw come on, Dash," his poor helpless victim whimpered in futile protest. "What did I do?"

"'Do'? Come on, kid, you should be thanking me," Dash responded jokingly as he kicked open the stall which held the oldest, rattiest-looking toilet in the entire school. "I'm branching out into a new hairstyling service. Now, anyone who gives me their lunch money qualifies for a complimentary swirly. And guess what? You just happen to be the first lucky customer."

Giving the ancient fixture a flush to see that it worked, Dash pulled the yelping student into the stall to perform his dastardly act. But before he could hoist his defenseless prey over the bowl, an eerie moan suddenly echoed throughout the bathroom.

"B-U-U-U-L-L-L-L-L-I-I-E-E-E-S…"

Before Dash could even figure out what he had just heard, an enormous geyser of water exploded from the toilet bowl, slamming him into the ceiling. From there, a flailing Dash was carried out of the bathroom on a giant wave of toilet water, screaming in terror while his would-be "client" could only remain huddled on the floor in frightened confusion.

* * *

"Well, Valentine's Day is just around the corner," Tucker remarked as he walked alongside Danny and Valerie in the halls. "Anyone got anything special planned?"

"Anyone here got someone special to have plans WITH?" Valerie replied cynically before tossing a glance in Danny's direction. "Present company excepted of course."

"How about it, Danny?" Tucker inquired tauntingly. "Got anything particular in mind?"

"That's really none of your business," Danny answered with a lighthearted smirk.

"Aw Danny," Tucker groaned as they stopped by Danny's locker. "That was NOT the answer I wanted to hear, dude."

"Excuse me?" Danny responded in objection.

"Are you serious?" Tucker argued. "Come on, man, Sam HATES Valentine's Day. EVERYONE knows that."

"Yeah, her little "ticker tape protest" with the shredded valentines last year really kinda sold it," Valerie added.

"I know how she feels," Danny stated confidently. "I also happen to know exactly what I'm doing. So give me a little credit, okay?"

"What's everyone talking about?" Sam chimed in as she walked in on the conversation.

"Oh, nothing in particular," Danny replied with a cryptic cheerfulness.

Tucker and Valerie could only exchange nervous looks at Danny's response. But their thoughts soon turned to much more serious concerns as Danny and Sam suddenly gasped in unison, the icy breath and tingling of their Ghost Senses kicking in.

"Okay, THAT'S not 'nothing in particular'," Sam pointed out as she and Danny looked around to see what their Ghost Senses could have responded to.

Just then, to the group's combined shock, a rushing torrent of water came roaring around the corner, with Dash crying out in panic along with it. Flashing past Danny and the others, the wave rolled on down the hall before finally dissipating, spilling out all over the floor and finally releasing Dash, who immediately picked himself up and ran for the school doors, wailing like a frightened child.

"So…anyone else curious as to what that was all about?" Danny asked, his gaze shifting back and forth between Sam, Tucker and Valerie. "Not just me, then?"

A few moments later, a transformed Danny and Sam were alongside Tucker, slowly following an armored Valerie through the halls as she examined a wrist-mounted scanner for traces of any ecto-energy signatures. After all, as convenient as Danny and Sam's Ghost Sense was it was still only an intuitive response to whatever happened to be in the general area. Comparatively, the sensors on Valerie's armor were far more precise.

"Okay, I've got something. It's in here," Valerie observed, noticing a major spike in her readings as the group curiously found themselves outside a janitor's closet. "Not exactly what I was expecting."

"Yeah, when it comes to ghosts, you really have to stop 'expecting' things," Danny replied before lowering his voice and readying himself outside the door with an ecto-charged fist. "Alright, on three, okay? One…two…"

As Danny mouthed "three" under his breath, he threw open the door, With Valerie training all her armored lasers and Sam brandishing a Ghost Ray katana. However, the figure inside seemed to pay them little notice, as it was revealed to be nothing more a boy, huddled on the floor with his face buried into his knees. Although something was definitely off about him. The hairstyle and clothes were unusual enough. But what was even more striking was the fact that there seemed absolutely no color about him at all. It was as if…he was completely in grayscale.

"Whoa! Everyone, back up!" Danny blurted out, barring Sam and Valerie's way as he walked into the closet and leaned in to get a closer look. "Sidney Poindexter?"

"Danny…," Sidney whimpered as he finally raised his head, looking up at Danny with pleading eyes, "Can I stay with you guys for a while?"

* * *

Slowly and silently, the ominous shadow drifted along the streets of Amity Park. Within moments, it happened by a local video game shop, where a local college student was taking some free time to do a little browsing.

"Aw, the new expansion of 'Doomed' is out!" he exclaimed, holding the display box in his hand, "The one where you can finally play as a Shaolin Wushu Warrior. Man, it stinks that I'm broke. I SO wish I could play as one of those guys right now."

Just then, more plumes of green mist billowed into the store through the ventilation system, surrounding the confused gamer. But his yelps of panic were quickly replaced with a deathly silence, followed by the sound of unsheathing steel as a pair of slanted blue eyes pierced through the haze.

* * *

"Okay, would someone please explain to me what's going on here?" an eager-to-battle Valerie asked in an irritated tone as Tucker held her back from the closet. "If he's a ghost, shouldn't we be blasting him already?"

"Look, you've gotta understand, not all ghosts are the same. There are the ones we've got a problem with and others…well, not so much," Tucker explained. "Seriously, we need to get you like, an App or something."

"Sidney, how did you just get here all of a sudden?" Danny asked as he and Sam entered the closet, sitting down on each side of him. "I thought the only way you could do that was through that mirror in your old locker. And I…kinda closed that off."

"Well, that's not…100 percent accurate. There's an old toilet in one of the boys' rooms down the hall. Let's just say I spent almost as much time in there as I did, stuffed inside my locker," Sidney replied, much to Danny and Sam's disgust, "Which kind of brings me to why I'm here. I…needed to take a break from MY school for a while."

"What are you talking about?" Sam wondered. "Last I heard, you became some kind of campus big shot after you and Danny had that fight in the Ghost Zone."

"I was," Sidney answered, looking back with a fond smile. "I tell you, you should have seen it. I was popular…I was respected…Brother, I was SOMEBODY…!"

"…But then, in one instant, it all went up in smoke."

"What happened, man?" Danny pressed on, causing a miserable frown to cross Sidney's face.

"It was last April Fools' Day," Sidney explained. "Everyone was playing pranks on each other, as usual. I SHOULD have known better and been on my guard. But that day…"

From there, Sidney could only grimace as his memory drifted back to that day. A couple of the jocks and greasers had gotten together to pull one massive prank, stringing a clothesline along a length of hallway while a couple of others poured gallons of soapy water all over the floor, making it as slick as a skating rink. All that was left to do was lie in wait for the first poor, unsuspecting soul to wander into their trap.

Truthfully, any poor sap would have sufficed. But at that moment, it happened to be Sidney, walking proudly around the corner as he prepared to enjoy another day of popularity, who took that fateful step onto the slippery surface. In that instant, Sidney's feet flew out from under him, sending him sliding down the hall like a shot, straight through the gauntlet of hung clothes that dangled in his path. And before he even knew what was happening, he was crashing through the door of a girls' washroom, only to emerge in a daze a moment later, decked out from head to toe in the women's clothing he'd just slipped through, everything from a lacey bonnet to evening gloves and a ruffled gown.

At first, all the other students were stunned that it was Sidney who ended up becoming the hapless victim. But it was only an instant before they forgot their shock and the hallways were soon echoing with a wave of laughter, without a single schoolmate wasting an opportunity to chortle at Sidney's expense.

"One misstep and 10 seconds," Sidney groaned in despair. "That was all it took for everything I had to be washed away in a wave of suds and frilly clothes."

"And the next thing you knew, you were an open target again," Danny concluded, instantly feeling sympathetic as Sidney nodded unhappily.

"Ah, the typical fickle heart of high school," Sam sighed in response.

* * *

In the Casper High library, Jazz was taking a free period to catch up on a report she was working on for a class project. With a USB flash drive inserted, containing a copy of her work-in-progress, she was scanning the internet for other references and information to add. Unfortunately, the painfully slow processing speed of the computer made it an almost unbearable exercise in futility.

"OOOooohhh…! Lousy six-month-old technology! What's the point of even trying to get a head start on my homework here at school?" she blurted out as she waited forever for her web page to load. "What I wouldn't wish for these computers to run faster."

At that exact moment, yet another cloud of green mist swirled into the room, flowing around Jazz and into the computer. Seconds later, to Jazz's yelping shock, the computer floated off the desk, magically growing a muscular male body before charging out of the room at top speed, heading for parts unknown.

"Okay, THAT was bit literal for my taste," Jazz remarked in blinking surprise before leaping out of her chair to give chase to the fleeing PC. "Hey, get back here! That's my flash drive and my report you just made off with!"

* * *

"I don't understand," Sam pointed out, still sitting with Sidney and Danny back in the closet. "If it's that horrible, why don't you just, I don't know…not go there again? Do you really even NEED to go to school anymore?"

"Don't you think I've tried that? There's nothing I can do. It's the rules of a haunting. Every day, within regular school hours, I have to return to the one place my spirit inhabits. I'm trapped." Sidney answered, burying his face in his knees once again. "I wish there was a way I could get out."

Just then, Danny and Sam's Ghost Sense triggered once more, just as a plume of green mist pumped into the through a nearby vent, enveloping Sidney and hiding him from view. A moment later, Sidney was lifted off the ground as the vapor swirled around him before exploding in a burst of glitter. And to everyone's surprise, especially Sidney's he found himself floating in mid-air, dressed in a graduation robe and mortarboard, with a rolled piece of paper gripped in his hand.

"Huh? What the…?" Sidney stammered before unrolling the paper in his hand. "Mmm-mmm…this is to certify…Sidney Poindexter…certificate of graduation? And I can't feel the link to the school anymore. Does this mean I…I'm free?"

"Uh-oh…," Danny and Sam uttered, tossing each other and Tucker a concerned look, even as Sidney was overjoyed.

"I…I don't know what to say," Sidney went on, almost on the verge of tears. "I just…I can't believe…did one of YOU guys do this?"

"No," Sam responded with a frown. "But we know someone who COULD."

"Really? Well, come on, you've got to tell me who it is!" Sidney exclaimed. "I honestly can't thank them enough."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Tucker chimed in, "Trust me…she's more trouble than she's worth."

Within moments, Danny, Sam and Tucker were bolting down the halls behind Valerie, who had detected more ecto-signatures appearing in the school, all seeming to converge on one location. And sure enough, as they rounded the corner, who should they see but Desiree, the Wishing Ghost, cackling with wicked glee as she worked her magic outside the Drama club room.

"Excellent! It just doesn't get any better than this," she gloated as several girls were running about, being attacked by their own costumes. "So many selfish humans with so many petty desires…it's like shooting fish in a barrel."

Just then, Desiree was slammed in the back with a pair of full-power Ghost Rays from Danny, sending her screaming into a nearby trashcan. Quickly shaking herself out of her Daze, she whirled around in a rage to see Danny and the others facing off against her.

"Interesting choice of words, Desiree!" Danny shouted as Desiree glared at them in fury.

"So, just for clarification…she's one of the ghosts we've got a problem with, right?" Valerie inquired in Tucker's direction.

"Oh yah," Tucker answered as he pulled a remote control from his backpack and turned it on, sending his robot roaring into the room from its closet storage.

"Good," Valerie responded, eagerly. "Because I've got some steam that I seriously need to blow off right now."

Unbeknownst to anyone, Sidney had followed Danny and the others and was hiding around the corner, observing the face-off. Like Danny and the others, his attention was focused solely on Desiree. But UNLIKE Danny and the others, his attention was focused on her for an entirely different reason.

"Oh my gosh…," he murmured under his breath, almost in a daze. "She's…the most BEAUTIFUL woman I've ever seen."

"So how's this going to play out, Desiree?" Sam announced as all of Team Phantom was mounted in full force against her. "This CAN go the easy way, if you want it to. But if you choose the hard way, bear in mind that you're just a little outnumbered here."

"Oh…do tell," Desiree replied smugly, following up with a snap of her fingers.

At that moment, the entrance doors to the school were smashed open, revealing a hairy, snarling beast in the shape of a car, with the poor, panic-stricken commuter still trapped inside the driver's seat. Walking in alongside it, with cold slits for eyes and brandishing a razor-sharp sword, was a Doomed Shaolin Wushu Warrior that had once been the college student eyeing a simple video game box not an hour earlier. Then, bursting from the drama club room were the costumes Desiree had animated. And if that wasn't enough, every locker in the hall flew open, revealing the twisted grins of cackling, evil…

"Garden gnomes?!" Tucker blurted out in shock, "What kind of twisted wish could have POSSIBLY translated into THAT?!"

"You don't want to know," Desiree replied with a sly grin. "Not that it's likely to matter anytime soon."

With a wave of her hand, all of Desiree's magically conjured creations charged in to attack. Danny and the others quickly followed suit and the fight was on.

At the same time, Jazz was still dashing through the halls chasing after the elusive library computer that was transformed through Desiree's magic. Luckily for Jazz, she made it a point to keep in shape, as the body the computer had grown had the speed of a star athlete. But she was completely unaware of the chaos taking place just a few short yards away. That is, until she turned the corner to see Danny pinned under the car beast, Sam's Ghost Ray swords being held at bay by the Shaolin Wushu Warrior, Valerie being bound in theater costumes and Tucker's robot being overrun by evil garden gnomes, with Desiree overseeing it all.

"And just what is going on HERE?!" Jazz exclaimed, instantly forgetting about her pursuit as the runaway computer escaped down the hall.

"Jazz, MOVE!" Tucker shouted as he charged to the end of the hall and grabbed Jazz's arms, whirling her around the corner and out of harm's way as the Garden gnomes let fly with a barrage of spears and rocks.

"Tucker, what are you…?" Jazz uttered as Tucker kept her pinned against the wall.

"Jazz, listen, you've got to stay out of there," Tucker answered as he and Jazz peeked around the corner. "See her, there? That's Desiree, the WISHING Ghost. She is WAY too dangerous to take on unarmed."

"'Dangerous'? Are you kidding? What's dangerous about her?" Jazz asked with some confusion. "Isn't she the one who just does whatever you tell her to as long as you wish for it?"

"What's your point?" Tucker asked plainly, causing Jazz to roll her eyes.

"Uuuhhh-hhh…would you excuse me please?" she sighed in annoyance, gently pushing Tucker back to arm's length and walking back into the hall.

The exact moment Jazz appeared, all of Desiree's creations were quick to take notice. Of course, most of them were already occupied with their own prey…except for a large portion of the garden gnomes, not all of which were needed to keep Tucker's robot down. And the moment Jazz came into view, they all immediately sense a fresh victim, charging toward her in a giggling frenzy.

"Jazz, no! Get out of there!" Danny cried out from underneath the car beast while Jazz could only hold her hands on her hips and roll her eyes at the small legion bearing down on her.

"H-uuuhhh…I wish all the monsters would stop now," she called out, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

At that moment, Desiree's whole body began to glitter and seize up, as if paralyzed, before suddenly raising her arms beyond her control. Desperately, she tried to fight it, but it was only a matter of seconds before the magic within her was compelled to respond to Jazz's words. And with a wave of her hands, each of her creations became surrounded in spectral magic and was instantly frozen in time.

"Your…wish…is my command," Desiree groaned, still struggling against herself before she was forced to submit.

"I wish that every request I make of you from this moment on be treated as a wish," Jazz immediately followed up.

"Rrrg…! I…will obey," Desiree responded, again, struggling at first, but in the end, left with no choice but to comply.

"Good. Now…first of all, put that computer back in the library the way it was and give me back my flash drive," Jazz commanded.

With no choice, Desiree wiggled her fingers. And sure enough, a second later, the computer that was running down the street amongst panicked Amity Park citizens disappeared and was back in the Casper High Library. At the same time, Jazz's flash drive instantly appeared in her hand.

"Much better," Jazz stated before moving on. "Second, let's get rid of this mess. Any of these monsters you changed, change them back. Any of them you created, get rid of them."

Again, helpless to resist, Desiree waved her hands. And in a twinkling, the car beast was transformed back into an ordinary vehicle, while the Shaolin Wushu Warrior became his college student self once again. The drama costumes binding Valerie were robbed of their ability to move, allowing Valerie to free herself. And every single one of the garden gnomes disappeared.

"Aw man…," the college boy uttered in a daze. "Where am I?"

"Thermos," Jazz requested, holding out her hand in Danny's direction as he tossed the Fenton Thermos over to her.

"Now you…get in here," Jazz ordered, popping the lid off the device and leaving Desiree unable to do anything but let out a haunting wail as she was sucked inside and sealed away.

"There…was that so hard?" Jazz had to ask, her gaze shifting around to the others as she put the lid back on the Fenton Thermos.

"Okay, seriously, I'm feeling just a little embarrassed right now," Sam remarked as Danny crawled out from under the car. "I mean, how many times have we fought her and this is always the LAST thing we come up with?"

"Uh…yeah…thanks Jazz," Danny muttered, scratching his head uncomfortably.

"Look, I'll take the Thermos home and deal with it," Jazz mentioned quietly before nudging her head over to the stalled car and driver, still parked in the middle of the hallway. "There's still a mess here that you guys are a little better qualified to clean up."

"Mister? Mister!" Tucker called, trying to get the driver's attention by tapping on the side window with his finger. "Are you alright?"

"I-don't-think-my-insurance-covers-this," the driver could only answer in a droning monotone, too stunned to do anything else but look around in disbelief.

"I'll help him get out of here," Sam declared, walking up behind the car.

Of course, not wanting to panic the terrified driver any more than he already was, Sam made sure to lift the car only slightly off the ground. Then, using her phasing power, she turned the car around in the hall and then proceeded to fly it back out the door it came in from.

"Oh yeah," Danny shuddered with a dazed smile as he flew in behind the confused college student, lifting him as Sam lifted the car to fly it outside.

"It just drives you wild that she's strong enough to do that, doesn't it?" Valerie asked cynically.

"Oh, you don't even know," Danny replied, tossing an amorous grin over his shoulder before taking leave with his own cargo.

"I'm not sure I even WANT to," Tucker commented, sharing Valerie's disturbed look.

Nothing left to do now but for Tucker and Valerie to collect the Drama Club costumes and put them back where they belonged while Jazz headed back to Fenton Works to take care of Desiree. However, it was Jazz's task that one particular individual had taken a vested interest in. Still watching from around the corner, Sidney Poindexter, the only one whose wish hadn't been reversed by Jazz, was watching intently, unable to get the dazzling image of Desiree out of his head. Making sure he turned invisible as Jazz walked past, he floated behind her outside the school doors, determined to see where they were going.

* * *

It wasn't long before Jazz was back at Fenton Works' lab, standing in front of the Fenton Portal. It was a good thing Jack and Maddie were out of the house running some errands. She would have never been able to keep them from getting all trigger-happy if they knew she had a ghost to dispose of…especially if they knew what she was about to do.

Floating down the stairs after her, Sidney watched intently as Jazz stood before the portal. Admittedly, he was hoping to get one last look at Desiree before she got dumped back into the Ghost Zone. But nothing could have surprised him more than when Jazz, without even opening the Portal, opened up the Fenton Thermos and actually let Desiree out.

"What the…?! Wha-What…?! YOU!" Desiree shouted, looking around the lab in confusion before finally spying Jazz, her eyes blazing with rage as she dove in to attack.

"Hold it!" Jazz commanded, throwing up her hand and causing Desiree in her tracks, reminding her that the standing wish she'd made was still in full effect. "There…now, are you going to calm down?"

Once again, Desiree struggled to move, but the glittering magic around her was simply too strong for her to overcome. It was only until she finally let out a sigh of submission that the magic lost its hold and she was finally released.

"Fine," she uttered, turning around with crossed arms and tossing a look of contempt over her shoulder. "So what do you want?"

"Just to talk for a moment," Jazz answered simply. "To be honest, I'm not as familiar with my brother's enemies as I'd like to be. And an opportunity like this doesn't come along every day."

"Oh, well doesn't that just sound lovely," Desiree remarked sarcastically. "What, would you like to take notes and analyze me…find out what makes me tick…my pathology? Or perhaps you're the kind who'd like for us to braid each others' hair over ice cream and talk about boys we like, hmmmm?"

"Actually, I'm the kind who thinks this will go a lot easier without the wisecracks," Jazz shot back dryly, before turning serious. "I was just curious to know, what's with the whole wishing thing? And why would you want to cause so much trouble with it? I mean, never mind the fact that all it takes is one sentence with the word 'wish' in it to shut you down. But a ghost with your abilities…who can literally do ANYTHING…I can't even begin to think of all the good you could do."

"Hah! Good? For someone who tries to talk so maturely, you're pathetically naïve," Desiree responded, almost unsure whether to be amused or spiteful. "What do you even know about me, anyway?"

"Only what Danny's told me," Jazz answered with a shrug. "Something about you being a harem girl that was promised an entire kingdom by a sultan. But then you lost it all after his wife found out and had you banished."

"'Lost it all'…You think him promising me a kingdom was anything special? He was a SULTAN. He could have given his DOG a kingdom if he wanted to. Besides, do I look like I know anything about being a ruler?" Desiree argued. "He promised me his HEART…his SOUL! He vowed that he would stand by my side until the end of time!"

"But then his wife got involved and he broke his word," Jazz concluded while Desiree could only turn away with a miserable scowl.

"After she cast me out into the desert…while man who swore his undying devotion to me merely stood there and did NOTHING…I was left to fend for myself." Desiree continued. "Not long after, I came across an oasis. While I was digging through the ground to prepare a shelter from the heat, I came across an old buried bottle. I opened it, without hesitation, thinking I had a container for the water I had found…only to realize that the bottle was actually a prison for an Ifrit."

"An Ifrit…aren't those like genies?" Jazz inquired with a hint of skepticism. "You expect me to believe you unlocked a genie?"

"Says the girl who's talking to a ghost," Desiree replied. "As I was saying, the Ifrit told me that it was bound by its captor to grant a single wish to whoever finds it. Without a moment's hesitation, I wished it for the power to grant me my heart's desire. It raised its arms, unleashed a fury of shimmering light and thunder, declared 'Your wish is granted', and then disappeared on the wind, bottle and all…but nothing happened. For years after, I was convinced that it had lied…or tricked me somehow."

"Until you died," Jazz deduced. "Then you became a Wishing Ghost."

"After that, I had an intuitive understanding of the rules, which were actually ridiculously simple," Desiree went on. "I was to roam the world, granting the deepest desires of everyone I encountered…until the day came that I would finally meet one individual. One to whom I would be bonded for all time…the only one whose wishes I will grant from that day forward."

"Let me guess," Jazz figured out. "That would be the one who finally granted your heart's desire."

"As you can see, Ifrits are known to have a particularly morbid sense of humor," Desiree noted.

"So…what's your heart's desire?" Jazz asked innocently.

"I am forbidden to reveal that, in order to avoid someone offering it to me falsely," Desiree answered before angrily turning away once again. "Not that it matters. My spirit has existed for untold centuries and I've been around this world more times than you can possibly imagine. And all I've ever seen time and time again is one selfish human after another, ultimately caring for no one but themselves. If such a 'one' ever existed, do you not think I would have found them by now?"

"So what's your alternative?" Jazz debated. "You float around…trying to find ways to use your powers for yourself, just like everyone else has, while getting back at them by turning their dreams into nightmares?"

"Believe me, it may not be much," Desiree responded as she turned away. "But it's better than nothing."

At that moment, Sidney, who had invisibly overheard everything Jazz and Desiree had discussed happened to notice an expression on Desiree's face as she turned away that Jazz was unable to see. Sidney, however, was still at the proper angle to see Desiree's face. And when he witnessed the almost sorrowful expression on Desiree's face, he saw something in her eyes…something that made his own eyes grow wide with alarm.

Jazz, meanwhile, felt that she had heard enough. With a sigh, she pressed the genetic lock on the Fenton Portal, causing the vault doors to open.

"Alright, time for you to go back in there. And Desiree…," she added, getting Desiree's attention one more time. "For what it's worth, I AM sorry things turned out this way for you. But I think you're going to need to find a better way to vent your anger. Because if you DO come back to start this all up again…"

"…you KNOW we're going to stop you."

Desiree said nothing in reply, merely staring at Jazz for a moment. But then she threw Jazz an angry glare before slipping into the portal.

Sidney, meanwhile, couldn't bear to leave it at that. Flying from his hiding place at top speed, he zipped right past Jazz and streaked into the event horizon of the Fenton Portal right before Jazz closed it. Even though Sidney was still invisible, his passing created a brief chill in the air which Jazz instantly noticed, but after looking around and seeing nothing, she merely put it out of her mind and proceeded to head back to Casper High.

"'You KNOW we're going to stop you'," Desiree mocked angrily from inside the Ghost Zone. "RRRRRRR! If I could only be rid of this ridiculous wishing flaw…"

"Um, excuse me…Miss Desiree?" Sidney called out sheepishly behind her as he made himself visible.

"WHAT?!" Desiree shouted as she whirled around, her echoing voice and furious scowl making it clear that she was in no mood for company.

"I…I-I-I j-just wanted to say…thank you," Sidney responded as he raised his diploma, trying to find his voice to talk to her, although his nervousness was hardly based on fear. "You…granted my wish today and…I really can't tell you how much it helped me. I…I just…wanted you to…know…that."

At first, Desiree could only float on the spot, looking down at Sidney with an expression that seemed genuinely…surprised. But a moment later, she merely hung her head and turned away, her face showing the same mournful look that Sidney had seen in the lab.

"Yes, well…don't mention it kid," she remarked as she began to float away, her voice lowering to a painful murmur. "Believe me, no one else does."

"Um…I'd…also like to say…that is…if you'll permit me a moment of your time…," Sidney called again, still struggling to find the words, "I…think I may have a…solution…to your…wishing…problem."

At that moment, Sidney definitely had Desiree's attention as she twirled back to face him. Admittedly, she had no way of knowing what Sidney was talking about. But as she floated there, staring at him with wide, blinking eyes, she would have been lying if she said she wasn't curious.

* * *

Valentine's Day was officially in full swing and Casper High was abuzz with talk of romance and crushes. However, such subjects were far from Jazz's mind. She didn't dare reveal to Danny what had happened at Fenton Works. After all, she could only imagine the fit he'd have if he found out that she actually risked letting Desiree escape. But she still couldn't ignore what she'd learned in the few minutes she'd spent talking to her. A fact that was quickly getting on Danny's nerves anyway, as Jazz refused to quit bringing her up.

"Jazz, seriously, let it go already. Where is this even coming from?" Danny complained to Jazz outside his locker as school was just coming to a close "I mean, come on, you're talking about her like you're her therapist or something. And she tried to KILL you two days ago."

"Oh please, 'tried to kill'? Who are you kidding?" Jazz argued. "It's not like there was actually any danger. All you had to do was wish for it to make everything stop."

"Okay, how many times are you planning to throw that back in my face," Danny remarked, dryly.

"You have to admit, it WAS pretty amusing," Jazz replied with just the hint of a giggle in her voice.

"Look, even if you ARE right, if she really was in a bad situation and needed someone to help her, why didn't she just ASK for it?" Danny debated.

"Gee, I don't know," Jazz answered sarcastically. "Could it have had a little to do with something Tucker mentioned about how the first thing you did when you saw her was blast her out of the city limits?"

"Okay, one, that was an accident. Two, that was ALSO after she tried to smother an entire Swap Meet full of people under an avalanche of cotton candy," Danny responded before walking off. "The bottom line is, Desiree is back in the Ghost Zone and I'm more than happy to let her stay there. Trust me…she is nothing but bad news."

"Look, all I'm saying is, don't you think there just might a reason she's acting out like this?" Jazz wet on, trotting behind Danny as he walked off. "She may have a genuine motivation for her anger, you know."

"Maybe, but so what?" Danny argued. "It's no excuse, Jazz. If being mad all the time is all it takes to earn a free pass to hurt people, then just about everyone in the Ghost Zone qualifies. They're ALL upset about SOMETHING."

"Okay, I guess you've got a point there," Jazz admitted, conceding Danny's case before looking down and seeing the familiar image of a red-laced box peeking out of his backpack. "Speaking of upset, though, I wonder just what kind of a mood Sam's going to be in when you try and give her whatever Valentine's Day thing you've got planned. I'm guessing the valentine composting assembly she set up today wasn't quite enough of a hint."

"Oh, come on!" Danny objected. "Tucker's been giving me grief about this for days and now YOU'RE weighing in? Look, I'm going to say this one time…I-know-what-I'm-doing. And besides, it really isn't anyone else's bus…"

Just then, Danny's words were cut off as his Ghost Sense suddenly kicked in, instantly diverting his attention. And the look on his face was instantly recognizable to Jazz, who immediately was on her guard as Danny's gaze darted in all directions.

"Where's it coming from?" she asked gravely, letting Danny know that she understood full-well, what was going on.

"Not sure," Danny replied, trying to narrow down the best possible location before noticing the gym close by, "But there's as good a place to start as any."

Running to the doors, Danny and Jazz burst inside just as a blood-curdling scream echoed through the gym. But the resounding cry was hardly one of terror, but of triumph as a girl with sandy brown hair in a ponytail was jumping up and down with glee having made a three-point shot with a basketball. But what was truly unusual was that it was Kwan, of all people, standing by her side. Not that the girl was unattractive, but as girls at school went, she seemed wholly average and hardly the type that Kwan would normally spend his time with.

"This is unbelievable! I actually DID it!" she squealed with delight, her braces glittering as she smiled from ear to ear. "And it's all thanks to you!"

"Aw, it's not that big a deal. I knew you could do it," Kwan replied, his words of encouragement once again catching Danny by surprise.

"It's just…I've never been able to do it before," the girl answered, still excited. "It's like one of those moments in a sports manga when one of the characters has never been able to do that one move before and then they finally nail it. You just don't realize how big a deal that is until that happens to you."

"No way. You like reading manga?" Kwan exclaimed. "That's awesome. I love manga."

"Really?" the girl uttered, her eyes beginning to sparkle as she looked into Kwan's, ecstatic that the two of them would actually have something in common. "Best…Valentine's Day…EVER."

"Well…that's definitely a certain level of weird," Danny remarked quietly, not entirely sure what to make of the scene playing out before them.

"I don't know," Jazz noted. "I mean, sure, Kwan's never been the brightest bulb, but he's always been a decent enough guy…you know, when he doesn't have someone like Dash or Paulina around, acting like a little devil on his shoulder."

"I guess," Danny agreed suspiciously, taking one look back over his shoulder as they left to notice what almost looked like little twinkling lights around Kwan's head. "Something still feels off, though."

* * *

At the same time, Sam was heading to her own locker, planning to meet up with Danny outside in a few minutes. But just as her locker was coming into view, Sam's Ghost Sense suddenly kicked in. Instinctively answering the call, her gaze immediately darted in all directions.

Eventually, her search led her to an open classroom. At first, it appeared to be an average meeting of the Casper High Chess Club. But there was one member in attendance that made it all-too clear to Sam that this meeting was in no way, average.

"Paulina?!" Sam blurted out in total confusion. "What are YOU doing here?!"

"Uh, Hel-LO…what does it LOOK like? I'm learning how to play chess," Paulina responded sarcastically before turning back to the nerdy boy across the table from her with a seductive voice and a flirty stare. "Norbert here has been SOOOOOO helpful…haven't you?"

"…Oh yeah…," the boy known as Norbert could only respond with a dazed grin while the rest of the club members could only huddle around him, looking equally enchanted.

"Uh, could you guys excuse us for a second, please?" Sam asked, politely excusing herself and Paulina before grabbing Paulina's arm and walking her to the far side of the room, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Now you listen to me, Princess, I don't know what you're up to with this act, but whatever it is, I am NOT about to let you get away with it."

"What is your deal?" Paulina whined, tearing her arm away from Sam's grip. "Just because YOU'RE not cool enough to learn from these guys, don't take it out on ME. In fact, maybe if you're nice to me, I might put in a good word for you with these guys and have them give you a few pointers…MAYBE."

"What the…?" Sam uttered, raising a confused eyebrow as she looked Paulina dead in the eyes. "Paulina, are you okay? Because if I didn't know you better…I'd almost think you actually MEANT that."

"Huh? Okay, seriously, I think you need to go home and lay down or something. You're acting weirder than usual. And for you, that's saying something," Paulina remarked before walking back to the table and returning to her seductive demeanor. "Now…why don't we get started? I want you to show me ALL your moves."

"O-o-o-o-h-h-h-h-h…Best…Valentine's Day…EVER," Norbert shuddered with joy.

Sam, meanwhile, still couldn't believe what she was seeing…or the fact that what Paulina said actually sounded so sincere and full of conviction. Something was definitely off about this picture. But if what Sam had seen so far wasn't proof enough that something strange was going on, just as she was backing out of the room, she could just make out a faint, almost indistinguishable ribbon of glitter swirling around Paulina's head.

* * *

"Danny!" Sam's voice sounded, instantly getting Danny and Jazz's attention as she came running up to them.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Danny responded with concern.

"Uh, how about Paulina hanging out in the chess club?" Sam answered. "Does THAT sound wrong enough to anybody? The Paulina I know wouldn't even SAY the words, 'Chess Club'."

"First Kwan, now Paulina?" Danny noted, sharing a concerned look with Jazz before turning his attention back to Sam. "By any chance, did her head look kinda glittery?"

"Now that you mention it, I DID kind of see something around her head that looked all…twinkle-y," Sam replied, "And right before I found her, my Ghost Sense kicked in."

"Okay, I think we're getting into too much of a coincidence now," Jazz remarked, picking up on Danny and Sam's suspicion that something strange was going on.

"Guys!" Tuckers voice called out as the three turned around to see him and Valerie running up. "You'd better get over here! Something's up!"

"Popular kid hanging out with unpopular kid for no reason?" Danny responded before Tucker could elaborate.

"Funky glittering heads?" Sam added.

"You ever get that feeling that you're not in the know?" Tucker responded dryly, tossing Valerie a dull look.

"So who is it, THIS time?" Danny asked.

"THIS, you've gotta see to believe," Valerie answered, both her and Tucker looking equally uncomfortable.

* * *

"Zounds!" Dash called out, dressed as a barbarian soldier inside a nearby classroom where a group of students were playing the role-playing game, "Caverns & Creatures", before going home. "It is I, Dashus the Bold, here to rain a first-class whuppin' upon any ogre-geeks or dwarfish-dorks that dare to interfere with our quest."

"Don't forget Star, the Spectacular!" Star announced right beside him, as a metal-bikini clad warrior woman.

"BEST…VALENTINE'S DAY…EVER!" a group of nerdish students responded in awe from the table where they were playing their game. While the boys and girls were all in costume as well, none of them had taken it to nearly the level that Dash and Star were at that moment, both of whom had the same faint traces of glitter floating about their heads.

"I'll laugh later," Sam uttered in wide-eyed shock while she and the others peered into the room from outside. "Right now, I'm too freaked out."

"So we're all in agreement then. It's not just us. Something weird is DEFINITELY going on here," Danny stated before stepping out of the room with the others for a quick brainstorming session. "Okay, suggestions? Anyone got an idea of who we're up against this time before we go running around like chickens with our heads cut off?"

"Definitely someone who can mess with your head," Tucker deduced. "Ember, maybe?"

"Doubt it…there's no music," Sam replied. "Besides, whenever Ember goes around, brainwashing people, she doesn't pick and choose. She's all about the huge crowds…volume, volume, volume."

"Do you think maybe they're being overshadowed?" Jazz suggested.

"I thought about that. But overshadowing usually doesn't generate enough spectral energy to trigger our Ghost Sense," Danny answered, sharing a quick glance with Sam. "I mean, if they were all in the same room, maybe. But all spread out like this…?"

"Well, what are we standing around here for?" Valerie chimed in, becoming rather impatient. "I mean, SOMEBODY'S out there, making this happen, right?"

"Hold on…A ghost that can make things happen?" Tucker restated before looking over at Danny, Sam and Jazz, each wearing the same uncomfortable look as they all came to the exact same conclusion. "Uh-oh…"

"She's BAAAAA-aaaaaaack," Sam uttered with a frown.

"Then Valerie's right, we've got to get moving," Danny announced before he and Sam turned their attention back to Dash and Star inside the classroom. "But first, we've GOTTA get some pictures of this."

"Already done," Tucker responded with a confident grin, flashing his mobile device. "The photos are sitting in your Inboxes as we speak."

'Yes!' Danny and Sam mouthed silently together, responding with a unified fist pump.

* * *

"So if it IS Desiree, what do we think she's up to?" Jazz thought out loud as she burst out the school doors with Tucker, an armored Valerie and a transformed Danny and Sam. "I mean, compared to what she usually does, this is downright subtle."

"Don't know, don't care," Danny replied, looking around sternly. "All I know is that if we want to find her, she shouldn't be too far. She likes to watch her handiwork."

"Well, whatever she's doing, it's flooding this whole area with spectral energy. I can't get a lock on anything," Valerie noted, looking at her wrist scanner. "But there is a slightly higher concentration east of the schoolyard. That's as good a place as any to start looking."

Sure enough, floating outside the school, taking in the results of her magic, was none other than Desiree herself. However, unlike her usual bouts of wish-granting, something seemed different about her as she kept an eye on the results. She actually seemed almost…bored.

"Well, THIS is certainly invigorating," she remarked sarcastically through a pair of oversized headphones. "I've gotten more excitement out of watching molasses flow."

"Don't complain. This isn't about having fun. This is a serious test to make sure the system works," a voice argued over a speaker from a darkened room while the figure inside fiddled with construction paper, scissors and glue. "Besides, you're putting some smiles on kids' faces, right?"

Desiree merely responded with a muffled grumble under her breath, making it impossible to make out what she was saying. But before she had a chance to object more formally, a green flash caught the corner of her eye, forcing her to dodge just millimeters ahead of a Ghost Ray stream. Whirling around with a glare, she quickly caught sight of Danny and Sam who were floating across from her, having beaten the others to the scene.

"Looks like we called it," Sam noted before noticing Desiree's rather unusual headgear. "But what is she wearing?"

"Headphones?" Danny observed, every bit as confused as Sam. "Does that mean she's being controlled by someone?"

"It doesn't matter. Headphones or not, she should STILL be able to hear THIS," Sam replied, taking a cue from Jazz's playbook as she attempted to take control of Desiree with a wish of her own.

"Uh, incoming wish, INCOMING WISH!" Desiree called out in panic as Sam prepared to speak.

"Got it!" the shadowy figure answered from his hiding place as he switched a knob on his speaker, sending a wave of white noise to block Desiree's hearing.

The static did as it was designed to, making it impossible for Desiree to hear anything Sam said. However, the volume of the speaker also created a feedback squeal into Desiree's headphones, causing her to scream in deafening pain.

"Sorry! Sorry! My fault, that was me!" her darkened ally blurted out as he quickly adjusted the volume.

"Thank you very much!" Desiree complained, her ears still ringing slightly.

"Someone's running interference…someone who's working with her," Sam noted while Desiree was still recovering. "But who'd be crazy enough to help Desiree?"

"All I know is, we can't stop her as long as those headphones are on," Danny replied, his fists blazing with ecto-energy. "So first thing's first…those things have gotta go."

With that, Danny unleashed a barrage of Ghost Rays, trying to knock Desiree's headphones off. But when Desiree proved to be agile enough to dodge each one of Danny's blasts, he and Sam quickly changed tactics, flying in to attack.

"Okay, I have a real fight on my hands here," Desiree announced through her headphones as Danny and Sam charged in. "Any wishes you want to make now would definitely be welcome."

"Uh, okay…hmmm. How about this?" Desiree's mystery partner responded, his wish coming through Desiree's headphones a split-second later.

"…You're kidding, right?" Desiree remarked with a dull look. But ultimately, she was left with no choice but to grant the wish made, sighing heavily with a wave of her hand.

At that moment, Danny and Sam were surrounded by a veil of Desiree's spellbinding mist. But when the haze lifted, they found their way blocked by what appeared to be giant pawn chess pieces. In fact, pawn chess pieces was exactly what they were as Danny and Sam now found themselves right in the middle of a giant chess board.

"What the heck?!" Danny exclaimed as the chess pieces suddenly came to life, all moving inching forward to attack. Even the rooks went on the offensive, transforming from towers into giant stone golems.

"Whoa!" Danny cried out in shock, just barely dodging one of the rook's massive fists as it slammed into the board.

Getting into the spirit of the fight, Sam converted her ecto-energy into a broadsword, desperately fending off a flurry of swords, spears and staffs as Danny tried to open up some space with his Ghost Ray blasts. And as the battle raged on, Desiree merely looked on from above, an amused smile beginning to cross her lips.

"Hmmmm," she mused, taking in the results of her magic with some measure of satisfaction. "Well, it's no dangling them by their fingernails over a pit of snakes and scorpions, but I suppose this has a certain effectiveness to it."

"This is ridiculous!" Sam shouted, knocking away a wave of chess pieces with her Ghost Ray Broadsword before converting it into a Ghost Ray Grapple Gun.

Aiming at one of the rooks on the corner of the board, Sam fired, sending the grapple piercing through the groaning rook's chest. Once the grapple burst through the rook's back, the hooks jutted out, making it impossible for the grapple to come loose as Sam pulled the line taut.

Danny was quick to pick up on Sam's hint, unleashing a wave of Ghost Ray energy that knocked several pieces away and giving him room to join Sam. And with a pull, their combined ghost strength was enough to take the huge stone rook off its feet, whirling it around the entire board. Within moments, all the other pieces wear either smashed by the rook or sliced in half by the momentum of Sam's line and the board was quickly swept clean.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Desiree noted dryly to her partner while Danny and Sam needed a moment to recover. "Do we have something else?"

"Did you maybe think about getting out of there while they were distracted? That might have been a good plan," the shadowy figure answered while he continued working on his paper project. "Okay, try this one…"

"Oh, come on!" Desiree protested after hearing the wish. But once again, with no choice in the matter, she went along, waving her hands once again.

Just as Danny and Sam were getting their strength back, the blare of a military bugle sounded off behind them. As they whirled around, they found themselves suddenly set upon by a stampede of whooping Indians on horseback, followed by a wave of US Cavalry soldiers, like a scene out of a 50s Western.

"WHAT?!" Danny and Sam blurted out together in shock as they faced getting trampled by dozens of spectral hooves.

"Okay, maybe I was a little quick to write this one off, as well," Desiree observed with a sinister grin.

Thinking fast, Sam threw up a wave of ecto-energy once again, creating a massive Ghost Ray Boulder between her, Danny and the charging hoards. And sure enough, just as Sam hoped, the riders quickly redirected their horses to run around the obstruction, keeping Danny and Sam momentarily safe, just as Tucker, Jazz and Valerie arrived on the scene, all three of them trying clumsily to balance on Valerie's rocket sled.

"Okay, new rule," Valerie stated. "You guys have DEFINITELY got to come up with your own rides to these things."

"What the heck is going on here?!" Tucker exclaimed as the attention was quickly redirected to Danny and Sam fending off the charge of horses and riders.

"Danny?! Danny!" Jazz's voice came through Danny and Sam's Fenton Phones just barely over the din of the stampede. "What are you guys doing? Why aren't you guys just wishing Desiree to stop?"

"Well, maybe if she could actually HEAR us…!" Sam shouted back.

"What are you talking about?" Jazz uttered in confusion.

"It's true! She can't hear us making wishes!" Danny responded while the din still raged around them. "Don't ask me how or why, but she's working with someone! They've got it set up so she can only hear their wishes!"

"They're right. She's wearing some kind of headphones," Valerie noted, her visor zooming in on Desiree's image. "Not exactly the height of fashion, but they're big enough that I should be able to take them out…"

"No, wait!" Sam interrupted. "If she catches you, you're just going to get caught up in this with us! And you guys have something more important to do! You've GOT to find whoever is helping Desiree out!"

"Sam's right! As long as whoever-this-is is still feeding Desiree wishes, she CAN'T be stopped!" Danny went on. "We've got to come at this from two fronts! Sam and I can keep Desiree busy! You guys find out where this guy is that's helping her and shut him down from there!"

At that moment, the stampede finally passed by, allowing Sam to drop her barricade. At that same moment, Danny unloaded a sphere of Ghost Ray energy which slammed into the ground, sending horses and riders flying in all directions before any of them could turn back around. From there, Danny and Sam charged in to attack and the fight was on again, leaving Tucker, Jazz and Valerie to take advantage of the distraction and set out to find Desiree's companion.

* * *

"I hate just standing around here," Valerie grumbled inside the school while Tucker fed the image from her visor into his mobile device. "I should be out there right now."

"No, Danny was right," Jazz argued. "With Desiree granting wish after wish, there's nothing you'd be able to do. Danny and Sam are enough to keep her distracted. Besides, once we find this guy, we may need your help to take him down."

"And I think we just got out first clue. That headset she's wearing looks very familiar. I think it's a similar setup to a…ham radio," Tucker noted about the picture, turning to Jazz and Valerie with a modest smirk. "I'm kind of a buff."

"Gee, why am I not surprised?" Valerie replied, sounding rather unimpressed.

"Ignoring that," Tucker responded dryly. "Hey, one of the science labs has an old ham radio in there. If we could find the frequency they're communicating on, Valerie could scan for it and we could find out where this guy is."

Charging to the lab, Tucker, Jazz and Valerie burst inside, where sure enough, an old radio was sitting on one of the top shelves, gathering dust. It had no microphone attached, which left them unable to communicate. But if they could still hear incoming transmissions, then Tucker's original plan still had merit. Pulling the radio down and plugging it in, Tucker quickly began scanning through frequencies while Jazz and Valerie kept watch.

"Uh, Tucker?" Valerie inquired as she and Jazz looked out the lab window. "Do you think there's any way you might be able to speed this up?"

"Why, what's going on? Are Danny and Sam alright?" Tucker asked worriedly as Valerie and Jazz looked outside to see Danny and Sam transformed into string puppets, dangling from Desiree's hands as part of a floating puppet show.

"Well, they're…hanging in there," Jazz answered with some concern.

Outside, Sam managed to conjure up a pair of Ghost Ray Blades to slice her and Danny's strings and freeing them from Desiree's grip. As the pair clattered to the floating stage, the spell that bound them became undone and they were changed back to normal, allowing them to charge in and take up the fight again while Tucker still kept scanning through airwaves.

"Hold on…I think I've got something," he noted with optimism as she slowly inched the dial over, causing a voice to suddenly come in and pierce through the static.

"Aw jeepers, Desiree, come on already…!"

"That voice…," Tucker uttered under his breath, recognizing it immediately. "It CAN'T be…,"

"I've got the frequency! Scanning now!" Valerie announced, "Looks like it's coming from downstairs in the boiler room."

That was all Tucker and Jazz needed to hear. Flying out the door, the trio dashed down the hall, heading for a showdown with the one who was really pulling all the strings.

* * *

"How did we get to THIS point?!" Sam exclaimed.

Danny had no answer for her, as the two of them stood in a makeshift 4H barnyard, dressed in overalls and carrying pitchforks and buckets to deliver food to the hungry animals around them. Even Desiree, watching the "action" from above, was unable to come up with an explanation.

"I sense the well is starting to run dry," she noted with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, maybe if you'd gotten out of there right off the bat, like I suggested!" her partner complained. "I mean, it's not as if you didn't have every chance to…!"

Just then, the door to the boiler room was kicked open and Valerie leaped in. Using her visor to see through the dark, she fired a pair of glowing bolos from one of her wrist compartments, binding the shadowy figure from head to toe before he was able to do little more than let out a surprised yelp.

Tucker and Jazz would enter the room a second later as Tucker flipped the light switch. Admittedly, he wasn't the least bit surprised at who he saw when the lights came on, but Jazz was completely stunned to be looking into the face of…

"Sidney Poindexter!" she exclaimed. "What are YOU doing here?"

"Wait a minute…you KNOW this guy?" Valerie exclaimed. "How do YOU know him?"

"I have an App," Jazz replied simply, pulling her mobile device out of her pocket and calling up Sidney's file for Valerie to see.

"I told you," Tucker insisted, shaking his head while Valerie could only scowl in response.

"Uh, Desiree…? I'm sorry to say this, but I think we may have been compromise…," Sidney tried to announce through the ham radio set he had next to him, only to be instantly cut off as Valerie shoved a wrist mounted laser into his face.

"Say one more word to her and I'll blow those beaver teeth right down your throat," she menaced through gritted teeth, even though her words came through loud and clear through Desiree's headphones.

"Oh no…," she shuddered under her breath, taking off for the school like a shot and leaving Danny and Sam behind. After all, if she didn't stop Tucker and the others and fast, she'd be at Team Phantom's mercy all over again.

"Well, she's in a hurry all of a sudden," Sam observed.

"Yeah, Tucker and the others must have found where she's getting her signals from. Which means we'd better stop Desiree before she finds THEM," Danny noted.

With that, Danny tore his overalls away and took off into the sky to give chase, only to notice that Sam wasn't by his side. Looking down, he quickly noticed that Sam was still in the 4H scene, feeding all the animals.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Danny asked with a hint of surprise.

"What? They haven't all been fed yet and they're hungry. I can't just leave them," Sam protested, while Danny could only let out an exasperated sigh.

* * *

"Sidney, what were you thinking, man?" Tucker exclaimed, still in the boiler room with the others. "Teaming up with Desiree? Do you realize how seriously twisted that is?"

"Somebody had to do something," Sidney argued as he struggled against his bonds. "You guys sure weren't."

"Do what?" Valerie shot back. "Give her free reign to run around and turn everything into a living nightmare?"

"Oh, you mean like the nightmare SHE'S been living in for all these hundreds of years?" Sidney debated.

"What are you talking about?" Tucker asked.

"Oh come on. Compared to her, what passes for MY life has been one long Sunday picnic. Century after century of being used by everyone she met, only to have them just run off and leave her by the side of the road as soon as they got whatever they wanted? She's cheesed off and I don't blame her," Sidney declared before turning his attention to Jazz. "YOU don't blame her, either. You heard the exact same story I did. How many times of the same runaround do you think it would take before you started thinking YOU deserved something for a change?"

"What does he mean, 'the same story you did'?" Tucker had to ask.

"That's not the point," Jazz responded, changing the subject as she wasn't entirely clear, herself. "The point is Danny was right about what he said to me. Just because someone's mad, even if they have a good reason to be, it's no excuse to go around and cause trouble."

"Excuse me, except for when the fighting started, name one wish we granted today that was so wrong," Sidney protested. "It's Valentine's Day. All we did was give a couple of kids who would only feel ignored and gave them one good day."

"Exactly…ONE good day," Jazz pointed out. "What do you think is going to happen tomorrow when all the popular kids go back to normal and the other kids think they're still all 'buddy-buddy' with them?"

"You did NOT think this through, Sidney."

"Sometimes one day is all it takes," Sidney responded, shrugging as best he could. "One day to find out that maybe you had more in common than you thought you did…that maybe you're not all that different after all…or maybe even to find out that the grass isn't always greener and they're not as great as you thought they were. But I wasn't doing it just for them…"

"…I was doing it for HER."

What no one knew was that Desiree was still listening in on every word that was being said as she streaked toward the boiler room, fighting off Danny and Sam, who had finally managed to catch up to her. Transforming her hand into a scythe blade, she whirled around and sliced through Sam's Ghost Ray strand that was wrapped around her spectral tail, trying to reel her in. But when Sidney's last words rang into her ears, Desiree's emotions suddenly changed from frantic anger to utter surprise.

"The main purpose of everything today was simply a dry run," Sidney explained. "I had to make sure the system worked properly."

"But to what end?" Jazz had to know. "Why are you doing this?"

"Wait a minute," Valerie interrupted, leaning in and looking at Sidney's face intently, having recognized the same look on dozens of other nerds who had wanted to get together with the popular girls. "Are you trying to impress her?"

"No!" Sidney instantly denied, even as his eyes suddenly became glazed over and his voice lulled into a dreamy state. "Just because she…happens to be the most gorgeous creature in the whole entire world…"

"Aw dude, Valerie's right. You've got it BAD," Tucker remarked, feeling just a little disturbed.

"It's not about that!" Sidney continued to object while his words continued to be broadcast to Desiree, who was dodging a barrage of Danny's Ghost Rays before wrapping her spectral tail around both him and Sam and slamming them into a row of lockers. "Okay, maybe in the BEGINNING, it was about that. I mean, come on…she's BREATHTAKING! And okay, yes, I wanted to do something thank her when she granted my wish and got me out of being trapped in my old school. But that wasn't what made me want to go this far. It was what happened after that."

"You didn't see it…she wasn't looking at you," Sidney continued, again, turning his attention to Jazz. "But just for a moment, she had this one look on her face. And I knew exactly what that look was, because I'd seen it on my own face every time I looked into that mirror in my locker…more times than I can count…"

"…You don't get it. How COULD you get it? She's not just mad…"

"…She's lonely."

"That's when I knew I had to do something. How could I just stand by and watch someone go through that pain…especially someone like her?" Sidney went on, his words soaking into Desiree's mind. "That's what it's all about. It was never about trying to find a way for her to hurt people."

"You want to help her find that one person, don't you?" Jazz concluded, having finally understood.

"I have to at least try. How could I live with myself if I just ran off on her like everybody else?" Sidney answered. "So if you guys have a problem with that, then fine! I'm guilty! Punish me if you want. Whatever you do to me, believe me, I've taken worse. But don't you think for one second that I'm going to give up."

"I don't know how long it'll take…days, weeks, months, centuries. But I'm willing to tough it out," Sidney added. "And in the meantime…maybe if I'm around…I can help her by showing that there's at least ONE person out there…who isn't just going to abandon her."

Admittedly, Tucker and the girls were beginning to actually feel touched by Sidney's plea. But just at that moment, the boiler room door burst open again, causing everyone to whirl around to see Desiree's silhouette floating in the doorway, with raging, blood-red eyes. Instinctively, Valerie raised her wrist-mounted laser, preparing for a fight. But before she had a chance to fire…

"Valerie, NO!" Jazz shouted, grabbing Valerie's wrist and holding it up over her head.

"What do you mean, 'no'?!" Valerie objected frantically at first. But then she noticed Jazz's deathly serious expression as she looked at Desiree's form in the doorway.

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Jazz answered straightforwardly.

It was then that Desiree fully came into view. And the look on her face was the last thing anyone expected. For one thing, she wasn't looking at Tucker, Jazz or Valerie, but was looking past them to focus solely on Sidney. And a figure that appeared to be enraged and menacing at first glance was actually revealed to be almost sorrowful as Desiree's arms fell to her sides. In fact, to the shock of everyone but Jazz, Desiree looked as though she was about to break down crying at any moment, with her bottom lip quivering and her eyes welled up almost to overflowing.

"Desiree? Desiree, what's wrong?" Sidney asked, his face showing concern. "Are you alright?"

Unbelievable…trussed up like a pig…held at gunpoint…and without a moment's hesitation, the only thing Sidney could think about was her. At that moment, Desiree was completely overwhelmed. As a faint, almost impossible-to-hear whimper passed her trembling lips, one lone tear slowly rolled down her cheek, reaching the base of her chin and finally dripping off towards the floor.

But a second after Desiree's tear began to drop…it suddenly popped into a burst of golden glitter in mid-air. The twinkling lights then suddenly broke off in two directions, one surrounding Desiree's body and swirling around her. But the group of lights began to revolve around, of all the others in the room, Sidney, lifting him, chair and all, off the ground. At first, neither Desiree, nor Sidney could understand what was happening. But all that paled to the shock of when they both suddenly seized up, their eyes flashing with golden streams of light.

"What the heck is going on?!" Tucker shouted as he and Valerie shielded their eyes from the dazzling display. "This is totally nuts!"

"I don't believe it," Jazz whispered in shock as her gaze darted back to Sidney. "It's HIM…"

A moment later, the chaos finally subsided and Desiree and Sidney appeared to be consciously aware of their surroundings again. But neither of them could still make sense out of what had happened as lingering traces of glitter could still be seen around them. However, before either of them could even think to ask what was happening, Danny and Sam finally arrived on the scene, having finally caught up.

"Hold it Desiree!" Danny shouted, he and Sam both standing in the doorway with blazing fists. "This ends now!"

"EVERYONE just hold it!" Jazz yelled before lunging at Desiree, pulling her headphones off her ears while she was still partially entranced. "Valerie, make a wish!"

"Jazz, what are you doing?" Sam exclaimed in confusion.

"Everyone just trust me, okay?" Jazz hollered back before turning her attention to Valerie once again. "Valerie, make a wish!"

"A wish? For what?" Valerie blurted out.

"It doesn't matter," Jazz replied. "Just wish for something…ANYTHING."

"Well, I do wish I at least get to shoot her for all the headaches she's caused these last couple of days," Valerie noted, popping one of her wrist-mounted lasers out of her armor.

"HAH! Like THAT'S going to happen," Desiree replied defiantly before a stunned revelation suddenly set in. "Hold on. Why did I just say that?"

"Sidney, you next," Jazz announced, "Make a wish."

"A wish?" Sidney responded in bewilderment. "Well, if nobody minds, I…kind of wish I wasn't tied up anymore."

Without a moment's hesitation, Desiree slowly raised her arms, enveloping Sidney in her magical energies. And to everyone's combined shock, the cables holding Sidney snapped and fell away, instantly freeing him.

"I don't get it," Sam uttered in confusion. "She granted Sidney's wish, but not Valerie's? What's going on?"

"It's him," Jazz answered, her gaze never wavering from Sidney. "He's the one."

"What does that even MEAN?!" Tucker shouted in frustration.

"One individual in all the world…one to whom she would be bonded for all time…the only one whose wishes she'll grant from that day forward. It's him," Jazz answered, regarding Sidney with fascination as the reality finally began to sink into Desiree's mind. "He's the one who finally granted her heart's desire…the only thing she ever truly wanted…"

"…someone to CARE about her."

Sidney still didn't quite know what to make of Jazz's words, his head still reeling from all the sudden activity. But as Desiree floated over to him, he pensively looked up to face her. And as their eyes finally met at that moment, Sidney finally seemed to understand as Desiree looked down at him with a weak smile. Sidney would then respond with a grin of his own as he instinctively took Desiree's hands into his own, holding them softly.

Jazz was the only one in the room who seemed to have any idea of what to think, smiling as the sweet moment between Sidney and Desiree played out, a faint golden aura surrounding them both. But the scene quickly screeched to a halt as Sidney pulled his hands away from Desiree to fish something out of his back pocket.

"Here. It's…just a little something I threw together," he noted sheepishly as he held his hand out, revealing that the project he'd been working on while communication with Desiree was a homemade, heart-shaped valentine, made from pink and red construction paper and some lace border from the Casper High Art Room. "It's not much, but…I hope you like it."

"Oooohhhh…," Desiree uttered under her breath as she delicately held the valentine in her hands, almost in awe that something so simple and childlike could make her feel so lighthearted and excited.

"I hope you don't think this sounds too cheesy. But…in light of the occasion…I was just wondering…," Sidney uttered under his breath, scratching his head and looking away shyly before he finally redirected himself to look into Desiree's eyes once again. "Desiree…will you be my Valentine?"

At first, Sidney had no idea how Desiree would respond. And he'd be lying if he said that at that moment, he didn't fear the worst after offering up his heart the way he just did. But as Desiree leaned down to face him with a tender smile and reached over to gently caress his cheek, all his fears were instantly put to rest with four simple words…

"How could I not?" she replied softly, leaning in closer and slowly pressing her lips to his in a long, feathery kiss.

As stunned…and disturbed…as everyone in the room was…except Jazz…no one was more shocked than Sidney Poindexter himself, his eyes growing bigger and wider with each passing moment as Desiree's kiss lingered on. In fact, within moments, his face actually changed from grayscale to a deep red before a geyser of steam exploded from under the collar of his shirt. Sidney would then wobble and pass out a second later, much to Desiree's surprise.

"Uh, yeah…I'd go easy, if I were you," Jazz noted while Desiree looked down at Sidney's unconscious form with a pair of wide-eyed blinks. "You may be a little too much woman for him right now."

Without a word, Desiree leaned over and picked Sidney up, cradling him gently in her arms. A still-unconscious Sidney, meanwhile, as if sensing Desiree was close, slowly curled his lips into a contented smile, murmuring sleepily as he curled up and snuggled in close to her. And upon seeing Sidney's reaction, Desiree found herself looking down at him with a tender smile of her own.

"So… existing for untold centuries and being around this world more times than I can possibly imagine," Jazz remarked knowingly in Desiree's direction. "Tell me…was it worth the wait?"

Still holding Sidney in her arms, Desiree found herself turning to Jazz, who just couldn't hold back the slight hint of smugness in her grin. Still, Desiree said nothing, but she responded with a smirk of her own before she and Sidney both suddenly evaporated into her trademark green vapor, which then drifted into the ventilation system and vanished, leaving only a room with four bewildered faces.

"Does anyone else feel like they just came in, in the middle of the conversation?" Danny asked while the smile on Jazz's face still refused to fade. "Jazz, what just happened here?!"

"I'll tell you one thing that happened. I think Sidney Poindexter…just got a girlfriend," Tucker responded in stunned awe before his thoughts suddenly turned inward. "Aw man! What does a teenage mayor have to do to get some lovin' from the ladies around here?!"

* * *

Outside of Casper High, the trail of vapor signaling Desiree and Sidney's departure continued to drift off into the sky. But little did either of them know that a third party was bearing notice to their exit. On the outskirts of the school grounds, the blue-hared form of the mysterious ghost, "G" leaned against his idling motorcycle, silently watching the cloud fade off toward the horizon through a pair of binoculars. But just then, a series of small beeps caught G's attention, drawing his attention to a small earpiece, which he promptly inserted.

"Talk to me," he greeted plainly.

"You're deviating from your assignment," a male voice spoke sternly through the earpiece.

"First of all, I shouldn't think you'd have time to keep tabs on me," G responded casually as he went back to take a last look at Desiree and Sidney drifting off. "Second of all, how do you figure?"

"Your job is to observe Danny Phantom…not ne'er-do-wells like Desiree," the voice replied, showing no change in its demeanor.

"You need to learn to be more open-minded," G stated confidently. "There are all kinds of ways that you can observe someone. I've already discovered quite a bit more than I would have gotten just sticking with HIM."

"Such as?" the voice inquired.

"That the kid was born under a VERY good sign," G answered, a calm smile crossing his face. "Don't you find it fascinating that even in the darkest moments…the stars just somehow manage to align around this boy? How enemies can become allies in an instant? Or how two wounded souls can join together…and become healed…for no other reason than because he just happened to meet them?"

"I'm not asking you to wax poetic," the voice remarked grimly. "What have you concluded?"

"I'm more convinced than ever that Danny Phantom may be our only salvation," G answered, his own face turning deathly serious as his gaze shifted toward the school. "But only if he lives long enough to get there."

"Then you know what you have to do," the voice stated plainly.

Nothing more needed to be said. Without a word, G pulled out his earpiece and hopped onto his motorcycle. And with a roar, he instantly sped off the school grounds and disappeared from view.

* * *

The lights of Amity Park blanketed the night like thousands of man-made stars. Of course, for Valentine's Day, the night couldn't have been any clearer, with the sky providing its own natural stars to add to the splendor. And for Danny and Sam, there could be no better view as they sat on a rooftop in the center of town, just seizing the opportunity to take it all in. Still, in light of recent events, they couldn't help but have one small thought nagging in the back of their minds.

"So…what do you think's going to happen with Desiree?" Sam found herself asking. "Do you really believe that whole story Jazz told us about her and Sidney?"

"Who knows?" Danny responded with a shrug. "But if it really means one less ghost we have to worry about, I'll believe anything she says."

"Personally, I thought it got a little too flowery at the end, for my taste," Sam remarked. "Felt a little too much like some cheesy fairy tale. I mean, don't get me wrong, those are okay SOMETIMES, but the whole 'happily ever after'-thing's been kinda done to death, you know?"

"Actually, it's kind of funny that you should mention being against the whole 'fairy tale'-thing," Danny stated as Sam uncomfortably noticed his hand inching over towards his backpack that he'd brought with him. "Because as it just so happens…"

"Danny…just stop, okay?" Sam interrupted. "I've been nice all night and kept my mouth shut. But if you're really going to try and give me some clichéd Valentine's Day thing, then…"

"Don't write me off!" Danny argued. "Everyone's been doing that to me this week and I seriously wish it would stop! I DO know what I'm doing! Just give me a chance, okay?"

"Okay, fine," Sam sighed in submission, even as part of her still couldn't help but fear the worst. "Show me what you've got."

"Well, 'traditional' Valentine's Day gifts usually call for flowers," Danny stated reaching into his backpack. "So in that custom, we have, for a traditional 'ANTI-Valentine's Day' gift…"

"'ANTI-Valentine's Day'?" Sam wondered as Danny whipped out the small packet and dangled it in front of her face. "Rose seeds?"

"What, are your hands broken? You can grow your own. Who's got the big greenhouse on her roof and everything?" Danny responded with some mock sarcasm while Sam let out a hollow giggle. "Next, I believe some nice treats are in order…"

With that, Danny pulled out a red, heart-shaped box, trimmed with lace. But Sam instantly realized that this, too, was no ordinary gift, as it had a giant black "X" sloppily painted across it, making it harder to contain her laughter. It was then that Danny opened the box, revealing that on the inside, instead of the traditional candies or chocolates, it was actually filled with miniature carrots and pieces of broccoli and cauliflower, along with a container of ranch dip in the middle, making it impossible for Sam to blurt out a few snickers.

"And last, but not least," Danny announced, pulling out a pink envelope, "the traditional 'Anti-Valentine's' card."

"Oh no…," Sam chuckled as she took the envelope, not know what to possibly expect at this point.

Opening the envelope, Sam could only look curiously at the red card with a giant pink heart in the middle that read, "The True History of Valentine's Day". But when she opened up the card, she suddenly burst out laughing hysterically when she saw that the inside contained a line graph, showing the profit margins for various greeting card companies, every February for the last 10 years. And as Danny observed her reaction, he couldn't help but give a smile of amusement.

"So what do you think?" he asked mockingly with a smirk, "Did I do good?"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Sam giggled, draping her arms around his neck. "You're right, I should've trusted you. You really do know how to do 'Anti-Valentine's Day' like nobody else."

"Thank you," Danny replied triumphantly. "But having said that, I hope you won't mind if I kill the mood by doing something that IS rather traditional for Valentine's Day…"

At first, Sam wasn't sure what to think. But when Danny propped her chin up between his thumb and forefinger and looked into her eyes with a loving smile, she found she didn't have a single issue with the words that escaped his lips…

"I love you."

"Mm…I love you, too," Sam murmured, gently pressing her forehead to his.

It was impossible for either Danny or Sam to not be swept up in the emotion of the moment as they finally leaned in, brushing their lips together in a string of slow, gentle kisses. Sliding in closer, Danny was able to put his arms around her waist and the two pulled in close, wanting to savor the moment for all it was worth. But just as they were about to be swept away on their loving tide…

"Aw man, I can't believe it!" Kwan's voice echoed from down below, causing Danny and Sam's eyes to snap open, mid-kiss, and look down to see him walking out of a comic book store across the street with bags full of purchases, along with the girl he'd been teaching basketball to earlier that day. "The manga selection here is INCREDIBLE! I didn't know this place even existed."

"I know, isn't it great?" the girl replied before looking away bashfully. "You know, there are a couple other places I could show you, too. That is…if you're interested…"

"Really? That would be so cool!" Kwan answered excitedly. "Hey, you…wanna hang out sometime?"

"Really?" the girl responded. "You mean, like…you and me?"

"Yeah, why not?" Kwan suggested. "It'll be fun. I mean, unless you're busy or something…"

"No, no…are you kidding? I'd love to." The girl replied, trying not to sound desperately eager, even as her braces gave away her wide grin.

Still holding each other close, Danny and Sam looked on from their rooftop as the pair merely exchanged a gentle smile. And as they walked off together, down the street, Danny couldn't help but find himself pleasantly surprised.

"Huh…you know what, Sidney?" he thought out loud, with an impressed smile. "You just might have done some good after all."

Sam was also equally touched by the moment she just witnessed. But at the same time, she wasn't about to let it disrupt the flow of her own evening as she leaned in, getting back Danny's attention by trailing slow, feathery kisses along his cheek. Of course, it didn't take long for her efforts to be successful. And as Danny turned back to her, another set of soft, lingering pecks passed between them, before they started cuddling, cheek-to-cheek, savoring every possible moment they had left of the night.

* * *

In the spectral halls of the Ghost Zone's Casper High, everything seemed to be business as usual. Spectral students were bustling through the halls on their way to various classes. But it was about to be made very clear that it was far from an ordinary day. To everyone's initial surprise, Sidney Poindexter suddenly walked into the halls from an office room, straightening the lapels of his jacket, as he was dressed from head to toe in a full plaid suit.

"Hey, check out Poindexter," one of the local bullies mocked while some other students simply laughed in amusement. "What's with the zoot suit? Trying to look like more of a nerd than you already are?"

"Actually, I'm simply trying to project an appropriate image," Sidney answered, calmly straightening his bow tie. "After all, I have a new job, starting today, and it would be best if I looked the part."

"'New job'? Like what?" the bully asked with a smirk. "A mascot of how NOT to be cool?"

"Very droll…but very wrong. Actually…," Sidney responded before cheerfully stepping back and closing the office door that read "Principal Sidney Poindexter" on the front. "…I'm YOUR new Principal."

At first, all of the students in the hall could only react with a gasp of shock. But once the initial surprise wore off, they were all laughing at Sidney once again.

"Is…is this some kinda joke?" the bully blurted out between chuckles. "Everyone knows this school's NEVER had a 'Principal'."

"Things change," Sidney remarked, still smiling calmly.

At this point, the bully standing before Sidney was beginning to get annoyed by Sidney's calmness, not to mention the tranquil grin. Grabbing Sidney by his Jacket, he was getting ready to do something about it. And yet, Sidney showed absolutely no change in his expression…especially when the flat end of a ruler tapped down firmly on the bully's shoulder, getting his attention.

"Is there a problem here?" a seductive voice called out calmly as the bully whirled around to see Desiree floating in front of him, her upper body dressed in a suit jacket, with a pair of Librarian glasses draped off the bridge of her nose and her hair pulled back in a tight bun behind her head.

"Ah, yes. Students," Sidney announced proudly. "Have any of you met our new ASSISTANT Principal?"

"Whoa," a slick-haired punk in the hall uttered as he sidled up to Desiree and slipped his arm around her waist, while all the other male students appeared equally spellbound. "Now I don't know about Poindexter. But a teacher like YOU…could really make learning fun, know what I mean?"

"Ah, I see you're not familiar with some of the new rules we have in place here. Allow me to enlighten you," Desiree responded slyly before plucking the punk's hand off her waist, twisting his arm behind his back and causing him to cry out in pain as she leaned in and whispered into his ear. "Rule One…no man may lay a hand on me unless I wish it…"

With that, Desiree spiraled in mid air, sending the bully flying into a row of lockers. And while everyone could only look on in shock, Desiree simply maintained a peaceful grin, even as she brandished her ruler tightly in hand.

"Rule Two…anyone who breaks any of the new rules…will find themselves in Detention," Desiree continued, her gentle smile turning to a wicked smirk before she slapped her ruler against her open palm with such force, the crack echoed through the halls and rang through the ears of all the students. "And I conduct EXTREME Detention."

"So…Questions? Comments?" Desiree concluded, her smile turning sweet once again, while all the students seemed only able to respond by shaking their heads in unison before rushing off to their classes.

Satisfied that Desiree had made her point, Sidney floated up beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder. And Desiree was all-too happy to return the gesture by nuzzling and kissing Sidney's cheek, which immediately caused steam to blast from Sidney's collar once again as his eyes rolled back and he began to keel over. Fortunately, Desiree was quickly able to transform her hand into an electric fan to cool Sidney off before he fainted completely. And with Sidney quickly recovered, he and Desiree leaned in, gently pressing the sides of their heads together as they glanced over into each other's eyes and took in the happiness of the moment…the first day of the rest of their lives…so to speak.

The End


End file.
